One of Australia’s favourite vanity queens is back in the news this morning.
Not content with knocking off cyclists and English models, Shane Warne has decided he is still better than anyone else plying their trade in Australian cricket and announced that he could, if he was asked, front up for Australia in next years Ashes series and perform better than our current bowling attack. Great encouragement from one of the legends of the game for our current crop of Test and First Class cricketers isn’t it?
The vanity and the pride of the man! He has no shame.
He was quoted in the local papers that he was frustrated during our national side’s loss in the Third Test against South Africa, at the number of loose balls being bowled and felt like jumping off the couch and rolling his arm over himself. Thanks Shane but no thanks.
The Australian team did suffer a heavy loss in Perth but at the moment South Africa is the best team in the world and at the WACA they did what very good teams do when they are under pressure; they ramped up their game and took it to the next level where Australia could not follow. Sometimes you just have to accept that you are not good enough as Australia’s captain Michael Clarke did. No excuses, just a commitment to work harder.
I have doubts that a 43 year old Shane Warne after sitting on the sidelines of Test Cricket for years and despite keeping himself fit playing hit and giggle 20/20 cricket could have stopped the Protea onslaught in Perth. I think he would have been swept away in the maelstrom with the rest of Australia’s bowlers.
If Warne was serious about a comeback, and there is some doubt that he is considering his comments on Twitter this morning which stated that he “could” play if asked, not that he “would”, then he should immediately make himself available for selection for Victoria’s Sheffield Shield team and prove that he is still capable of bowling twenty five overs a day and be as penetrating and intimidating as he once was. I have a feeling local batsman would relish the chance to face a has-been and have the opportunity to clock his innocuous legspin all over the park and subsequently look forward to the day, many years down the track when they could regale grand kids with stories of the day when Warne, like a punch drunk boxer returning to the ring for one last payday, was made to look like an amateur by grand-dad’s flashing blade.
Warne’s hyperbole reminded me of Lance Armstrong’s derogatory comments after the 2007 Tour de France when he intimated that he too would be able to climb off the couch and inflict punishment on the field as he did in his drug-fuelled days at the top of the sport of cycling.
Lance’s pride and prejudice lead to an ill-fated comeback and was a prelude to his long fall from grace into infamy and ignominy. Let’s hope Mr Warne isn’t tempted to repeat the experiment lest he suffer the same fate.
Sporting teams should be looking forward when it comes to future performance, not backwards. In a week when 38 year old Ricky Ponting finally ended the torture and retired, probably two years too late, the last thing Australian cricket needs is a 43 year old, self promoting legend returning to the fore. I’m sure Australian cricket authorities haven’t seriously considered recalling Warne.
Shane Warne still has a lot to offer Australian cricket. If he was serious about helping the national game the best he could do is to get into coaching or selecting. His name and enormous knowledge would only be a boon for cricket but it would be best served coming from the sidelines. No one wants to see a legend cut down to size. Not even me.
Have a nice day.
Not content with knocking off cyclists and English models, Shane Warne has decided he is still better than anyone else plying their trade in Australian cricket and announced that he could, if he was asked, front up for Australia in next years Ashes series and perform better than our current bowling attack. Great encouragement from one of the legends of the game for our current crop of Test and First Class cricketers isn’t it?
The vanity and the pride of the man! He has no shame.
He was quoted in the local papers that he was frustrated during our national side’s loss in the Third Test against South Africa, at the number of loose balls being bowled and felt like jumping off the couch and rolling his arm over himself. Thanks Shane but no thanks.
The Australian team did suffer a heavy loss in Perth but at the moment South Africa is the best team in the world and at the WACA they did what very good teams do when they are under pressure; they ramped up their game and took it to the next level where Australia could not follow. Sometimes you just have to accept that you are not good enough as Australia’s captain Michael Clarke did. No excuses, just a commitment to work harder.
I have doubts that a 43 year old Shane Warne after sitting on the sidelines of Test Cricket for years and despite keeping himself fit playing hit and giggle 20/20 cricket could have stopped the Protea onslaught in Perth. I think he would have been swept away in the maelstrom with the rest of Australia’s bowlers.
If Warne was serious about a comeback, and there is some doubt that he is considering his comments on Twitter this morning which stated that he “could” play if asked, not that he “would”, then he should immediately make himself available for selection for Victoria’s Sheffield Shield team and prove that he is still capable of bowling twenty five overs a day and be as penetrating and intimidating as he once was. I have a feeling local batsman would relish the chance to face a has-been and have the opportunity to clock his innocuous legspin all over the park and subsequently look forward to the day, many years down the track when they could regale grand kids with stories of the day when Warne, like a punch drunk boxer returning to the ring for one last payday, was made to look like an amateur by grand-dad’s flashing blade.
Warne’s hyperbole reminded me of Lance Armstrong’s derogatory comments after the 2007 Tour de France when he intimated that he too would be able to climb off the couch and inflict punishment on the field as he did in his drug-fuelled days at the top of the sport of cycling.
Lance’s pride and prejudice lead to an ill-fated comeback and was a prelude to his long fall from grace into infamy and ignominy. Let’s hope Mr Warne isn’t tempted to repeat the experiment lest he suffer the same fate.
Sporting teams should be looking forward when it comes to future performance, not backwards. In a week when 38 year old Ricky Ponting finally ended the torture and retired, probably two years too late, the last thing Australian cricket needs is a 43 year old, self promoting legend returning to the fore. I’m sure Australian cricket authorities haven’t seriously considered recalling Warne.
Shane Warne still has a lot to offer Australian cricket. If he was serious about helping the national game the best he could do is to get into coaching or selecting. His name and enormous knowledge would only be a boon for cricket but it would be best served coming from the sidelines. No one wants to see a legend cut down to size. Not even me.
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 